


go down coffee road and take a left on meany street

by were1993



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 09:47:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8139578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were1993/pseuds/were1993
Summary: [Coffee Shop AU] Wonwoo is thoroughly confused, Mingyu isn't helping, Junhui isn't flirting, Minghao isn't convinced and Jihoon doesn't think any of it is his fault. aka. Mingyu thought it would be funny to name a coffee shop after a nearby road and consequently, Wonwoo is almost late to his interview.





	

Jeon Wonwoo looks to his left and then his right. And then to his left. And then to his right. Then he looks up. 

The street plate gleams with the bolded words: _Coffee Road_. 

Wonwoo looks down at the phone in his hands. He stares at the email desperately, hoping that something would change. But the words have been the same since last night. 

 _Jeon Wonwoo,_

_The interview will be at Coffee Road, 1:15pm. Please do not be late._

_Lee Jihoon_  

It’s already 1 o’clock. He has fifteen minutes to figure out where he went wrong. Wonwoo had walked up and down this street twice now. He knows every shop on this five block strip—it only took him an hour and a half. _One hour and a half,_ he was here an hour and forty five minutes early and _he was going to be late_. 

Wonwoo looks around desperately and decides to walk into the first store open to ask for directions. He didn’t really look at the name of the store or anything so when he almost walks into a _tall_ , prickly cactus, Wonwoo squeaks rather inelegantly, falling backwards in a hasty attempt to not get stabbed. 

“Welcome to Cactus Cuties, how can I help—oh, do you need help down there?” 

Wonwoo looks up from the floor and stares shamelessly. The store keeper looked like a model—high nose, sharp jawline and dyed blonde hair. He was wearing a mint green apron with a cartoon cactus saying _Cactus Cuties_ in large, pink bubble letters. While Wonwoo was trying to formulate words, the man’s smile was pretty distracting. 

“Jun- _ge_ , why don’t you actually help him up?” another voice chimes in. Wonwoo turns to see another man, slighter with a mountain of blonde curls, walk over and offer a hand. Wonwoo takes it and was completely taken aback at the strength the smaller man had, pulling him to his feet easily. 

“I—sorry, I don’t want to buy a cactus,” Wonwoo admits. 

“But they’re so cute!” the model store keeper insists. He takes a tiny potted cactus off one of the shelves and almost shoves it in Wonwoo’s face. “They’re prickly on the outside but wet and moist on the—” 

“ _Wen Junhui_ , you are _gross_ ,” the curly haired man scowls, shoving his fellow employee away. He turns to Wonwoo with the perfect customer service smile. “Hi, I’m Myungho. Is there anything I can help you with today?” 

“Uh, I was looking for Coffee Road,” Wonwoo says. He could almost _hear_ the response he was going to get— 

“Well, if you walk outside, Coffee Road is right there,” Junhui answers helpfully, and Wonwoo wants to cry. 

“Are you meeting someone at Coffee Road?” Myungho asks with a bright smile, shoving Junhui again and saying something briskly in Chinese. Or at least Wonwoo thinks it’s Chinese. Junhui walks back to the cashier counter dejectedly. 

“Yeah, I have an interview and—” 

“I think I know _exactly_ where you’re trying to go,” Myungho interrupts. And Wonwoo has never wanted to bless someone as much as he wanted to bless the Cactus Cuties worker at this moment. “It’s a coffee shop right?” 

“Yes! I think!” Wonwoo exclaims. That sounded much more correct than a _street_. 

“My friend runs that place,” Myungho laughs dryly. Wonwoo thinks he sees an annoyed tick on the smiley employee’s eye, but he blinks and it’s gone. “He thought it would be funny to call it Coffee Road, and while I _told_ him, it was a _terrible idea_ —alas, ah, well keep going down Coffee Road, yes the actual street, until you see Meany Ave and take a left there.” 

“Oh, he’s going to Mingyu’s place?” Junhui pipes up from the behind the counter. “Do you mind taking some stuff over for him then?” 

“You are going to ask a customer, no, a complete _stranger_ to deliver Mingyu’s order?” Myungho asks with a blank expression. 

“He looks like…a reliable stranger?” Junhui shrugs, shrinking a little behind the decent sized potted cactus on the counter. 

“我的天啊,” Myungho sighs. He turns back to Wonwoo with a cute curl of the lips. “Since I need to take a shipment over, I’ll walk you there.” 

“Well, actually my interview is in, _shit_ ,” Wonwoo gasps as he looks down at his watch. “ _Five minutes_.” 

“I’ll run you over there then,” Myungho shrugs, balancing a couple boxes in his arms. Wonwoo looks around in confusion, when did the man get all of those? The Chinese man shoves open the front door with his back and motions for Wonwoo to follow. “It’s like a five minute walk, two minute run.”

Wonwoo has never run so fast in his life. And he was definitely in awe of the curly haired man. Who knew Cactus Cutie employees were so fast? He barely catches sight of the _Meany Ave_ street sign as they round the corner. Wonwoo was heaving by the time they came to a full stop. The sign for _Coffee Road Café_ gleamed brightly in the afternoon sun. 

He looks at his watch, one twelve. It had taken two minutes just as Myungho had said. 

“Th—thanks,” Wonwoo breathes. Myungho smiles and even holds the café door open for him. “I really do appreciate it.” 

“No problem,” Myungho nods. His curls bounce with the movement. “Just be sure to remember Cactus Cuties! So if you ever need a cute succulent for your office, do drop by!” 

“Hey Myungho, don’t be rude and close the door. All the cold air is escaping—” 

“Sorry!” Wonwoo apologize, making a dash into the café. With the sudden bright to dark lighting, Wonwoo totally doesn’t see the man standing beyond the doorway. This time he does walk right into the person, and they stumble to the floor in an awkward pile of limbs. 

“Good going, Gyu,” Myungho says with a sarcastic bite. “Making your customers feel bad after confusing the hell out of them. I’m _telling_ you that Coffee Road is a terrible name for a café right next to Coffee Road.” 

“Shut it,” a voice mumbles next to Wonwoo’s ear. 

Flushing, Wonwoo gets up quickly, muttering apologies. His phone decides to fall out of his pant pocket and Wonwoo kneels down to grab it. But another hand gets to the plastic device first. 

“You’re good, I was the one who wasn’t paying attention,” the voice says. A hand holds out his phone, and Wonwoo follows the arm up to see the full person attached. The very attractive full person attached to the arm. 

Wonwoo wants the ground to just swallow him _right now_. If he thought Junhui back at Cactus Cuties looked like a model, Wonwoo doesn’t know how to describe the man in front of him. Almond eyes and a brilliant smile with a peek of canines, the employee made a very handsome picture still half sprawled on the floor. A very, _very_ handsome magazine spread with the pleasing café background. 

“Getting in everyone’s way since 1874,” Myungho scoffs. 

“Being extra since 1682,” the man snaps back. 

“You mean since 1682 B.C.,” Myungho calls over his shoulder as he disappears towards the back of the café with his boxes. 

“Dammit, Hao,” the man mutters. His eyes snap back at Wonwoo and smiles sheepishly. It takes Wonwoo a few more moments to realize that he never made a move for his phone. The handsome man in the collared shirt and beige apron was still holding it out. “Sorry ‘bout him. We’re friends, I swear. He just has a special…attitude.” 

“Oh, he helped me a great deal today so—yeah,” Wonwoo finishes lamely. 

“Kim Mingyu,” the man introduces himself. “I own Coffee Road Café so just as an apology for all of this, can I get you a cup of coffee?” 

“I would—” Wonwoo starts but luck was just not on his side. From the corner of his eye, he saw his potential employer walk into the café. 

“I apologize, Wonwoo-ssi,” Lee Jihoon sighs, striding up to the pair. “I got caught up in a _situation_. I hope you didn’t wait long.” 

“ _Jihoon-hyung_ ,” Mingyu whines. Wonwoo almost jumps. He wasn’t expecting such a tone to come from the cool and handsome man. “You just have the best timing don’t you?” 

“I’m _late_ ,” Jihoon grumbles. He stares at Mingyu then Wonwoo and then back at Mingyu. “And what are you doing on the floor?” 

“Pretending to look cool,” Myungho offers, returning from the back of the store. He knocks the back of Mingyu’s head with his knuckles before continuing towards the front door. “All of the stuff you ordered is back there and I graciously unpacked it all for you. So just let me know if anything’s missing.” 

“ _Myungho_ ,” Mingyu pouts. Wonwoo doesn’t know how to process the previously gorgeous stranger with this ridiculously cute man. “Why you gotta throw me under the bus every time? I thought we were bros.” 

“It’s _because_ we’re bros that I have to,” Myungho smirks, exiting the café with a wink. 

“Well, if you guys are done here,” Jihoon coughs. “I think Mingyu can get us both a cup of coffee and we’ll proceed with the interview, Wonwoo-ssi.” 

“Y-yes, of course!” Wonwoo agrees. He jumps to his feet and follows Jihoon to a corner booth. 

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Mingyu wasn’t the one who brought them their coffees. While Jihoon was looking down at his resume, Wonwoo snuck a glance at Mingyu—oh whoa, he’s tall and wait, does he also make coffee too?  

“On your resume you mention that previously—” 

Turning away from the other’s picturesque side profile, Wonwoo focuses on the interview—he really needs this job, and he doesn’t even notice that he never got back his phone from the café owner. 

\--- 

Wonwoo collapses in his bed face down. 

He has always prided himself in being calm and collected, and at least faking it when he wasn’t. But today, he had been flustered and nervous and skittish and how could he have let _one little upset_ disrupt his entire flow? His housemate and landlord, Choi Seungcheol, had specially hooked him up with one of the largest publishers out there. Not only did he _need_ the job because of financial reasons, Wonwoo _wanted_ this job so badly. 

Wonwoo sudden sits up in his bed and frowns. He could have just called Seungcheol. After all, Seungcheol _was dating_ the head editor Lee Jihoon. 

“Oh my god,” Wonwoo groans, collapsing back onto his bed with his head in his hands. That’s right, he could have just _called Seungcheol_. Or better yet, he could have just _asked_ Seungcheol when he saw the older man in the kitchen earlier today. They did live together! 

“Hey, hyung are you alive—oh woah, you okay there?” his other housemate, Chwe Hansol, asks in alarm. The college student originally had his earbuds in, but quickly ripped them out and gaped. “Did the interview go that badly?” 

“No, it wasn’t the interview,” Wonwoo mumbles into the comforter. He’s pretty sure Hansol couldn’t understand a word. Peeking from in between his fingers, Wonwoo finds his assessment to be correct. Hansol has this wide eyed perplexed look. So he repeats himself, this time louder and clearer. “It wasn’t the interview.” 

“Okay, well, at least that went well,” Hansol says but his voice went higher towards the end, making the statement sound much more like a question. “Then…” 

“There’s a café near Coffee Road called Coffee Road,” Wonwoo explains. That was probably the easiest way to explain the entire situation. 

“Oh, you were at Mingyu-hyung’s place,” Hansol smiles. His eyes light up in recognition and it makes the disappointment sink deeper in Wonwoo’s chest. He could have called Hansol too. “It’s nice isn’t it? Although I’m pretty sure they don’t need _that_ many cacti, but hyung can never say no to Myungho-hyung so—” 

“Do _all_ of you guys know each other?” Wonwoo asks. He’s close to crying at this point. He had been struggling _so_ much this afternoon and he could have call his housemates! If he finds out that Jisoo knows them— 

“Uh, well, Mingyu-hyung used to live here before you moved in.” 

All three of his housemates knew. Seungcheol knew. Hansol knew. Jisoo knew. And Wonwoo had panicked all on his own. Wonwoo sighs. Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. 

“Oh yeah, hyung, you haven’t been picking up your phone. Just so you know, Jisoo-hyung was looking for you earlier,” Hansol says, relaying the message he was originally here to give. He snaps his earbuds back in and cheerfully waves goodbye. 

“My phone?” Wonwoo questions himself. He pats his pant pockets then shakes his jacket. No phone. Where was the last time he saw his phone? He had it when he was panicking on Coffee Road, it was in his pocket when he was at Cactus Cuties, and _dammit_ , he had dropped it in Coffee Road Café. He dropped it and the cute café owner had it.   

Normally he would be ecstatic to have a legitimate excuse to see a handsome stranger again, but—his mind flashed back to his own completely _not_ Wonwoo behavior—his first impression hadn’t been something to brag about. 

But he _needed_ his phone! 

Wonwoo buries his face into his pillow and wonders whether buying a new phone was a plausible option. He was broke, so no. Dammit. 

\--- 

“How was _I_ supposed to know?” 

Stepping through the café door, Wonwoo almost jumps at the sudden exclamation. An hour ago, he had decided that his phone was more important than his pride. So he dragged himself out back to Coffee Road and down Meany Ave. He had hesitated a long time, walking towards than away from the café. Finally, Wonwoo gathered enough courage to stomp up to the café door and open it. 

“I _always_ pay for my interviewees!”                                                                        

Wonwoo recognizes the voice of his potential employer very quickly and almost makes a one-eighty out of the café. 

“How was _I_ supposed to know that you left your number on the receipt?” Lee Jihoon scowls. “Why didn’t you just _come over_ and _talk to him_?” 

“It’s ‘cause he’s shy,” Myungho teases from the counter. Wonwoo catches a peek of the curly blonde hair, and even though he had just met the Catctus Cuties employee today, it was hard to misplace his particular intonations. “But seriously, Gyu, you should have at _least_ given the guy his phone back.” 

“He walked out when I was in the back!” the café owner pouts. He moves and Wonwoo could see the full on pout from his frozen position in the doorway. Again Wonwoo finds himself hard pressed to reconcile the model stranger and this _adorable—???_  

“Oh, aren’t you the guy from earlier?” 

Wonwoo really _does_ jump at the sudden voice next to his ear. He had spent so long trying to process the conversation—the café owner tried to give Wonwoo his number? Or where they talking about someone else?—that he completely didn’t hear the other Cactus Cuties employee walk right up to him. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” Junhui quickly apologizes, a hand automatically goes on Wonwoo’s waist to steady him. Wonwoo flushes as the other man smiled. 

“ _Wen Jun Hui_ , stop flirting with other men when your boyfriend is right here,” Myungho calls out, not even turning around. 

“Huh?! I’m not? _Ming Hao_ , I’m not flirting—” Junhui sputters. He shoots Wonwoo an apologetic smile and scurries quickly towards the other Chinese man. “ _Bao bei_ , I wasn’t flirting with him I swear—” 

“Uh-huh, sure,” Myungho hums, batting away Junhui’s attempts to back hug him. 

“Wonwoo-ssi, since you’re here,” Jihoon begins. He walks over and gives Wonwoo a receipt. “Here’s what Mingyu wanted to give you and you’re hired. I sent you a formal email too, but if you’re like me and only checks your email on your phone, well, congratulations.” 

Wonwoo accepts the receipt with both hands and stares at the ink: _Coffee’s on me next time. Call! XXX-XXX-XXXX_ – _Kim Mingyu <3_ 

He looks up at the counter and blinks. The café owner was nowhere in sight. He had _just_ been behind the large expresso machines, but now, only the two Cactus Cuties employees were at the counter with Junhui’s futile attempts at a hug being blocked at every turn. 

“Mingyu, get up off the floor,” Myungho scowls. “You’re fucking embarrassing. And, _Jun-ge, stop that_. ” 

Suddenly feeling a little bold, Wonwoo walks towards the barista station and peeks over the counter. The café owner was squatting on the floor, huddled into a ball. Mingyu looks up at Wonwoo with an embarrassed smile.

“Hi, uh, so, phone?” Mingyu laughs, completely red in the face. He stands up, brushing off his apron and actually stumbles a little. 

“Smooth,” Myungho quips. 

“Can you _stop that_?” Mingyu snaps. He fumbles in his apron pocket and pulls out a familiar device. “Wonwoo-ssi, sorry I didn’t return your phone promptly. I had been hoping that—well, maybe I could catch you before you left.” 

“I—I should have remembered, I mean it’s my phone, so I really should have approached you first and I mean _I_ was the one who ran into you and I dropped my phone so—thank you,” Wonwoo rambles. He reaches out to grab his phone and of course both of them are startled at the sudden contact. His phone clatters loudly onto the counter. “Oh shoot, I’m sorry, I—” 

“Have dinner with me?” Mingyu blurts out. 

“I—what?” Wonwoo blinks. 

They both stare at each other a little awkwardly. Mingyu looks down first and picks up Wonwoo’s phone. The café owner hesitates before looking up again, holding out the other’s phone. The shy smile that spreads on the other man’s lips made Wonwoo’s heart to weird flip-flops and he’s not entirely sure whether he liked that feeling or not. 

He reaches out tentatively to take his phone back, being very careful to avoid their fingers touching again, but it was inevitable. Wonwoo can’t say he dislikes the warmth of Mingyu’s skin against his fingertips. 

“ _Bao bei_ , I _really_ wasn’t flirting with—” 

“ _Wen Jun Hui¸_ can’t you see they’re having a _moment_?!?!” 

Startled out of their ‘moment’, Wonwoo grabs his phone and shoves it in his pocket. Mingyu chuckles sheepishly and retracts his hand behind the counter. 

“Sorry, you two go have a great dinner date,” Myungho apologizes. He grabs Junhui by his shirt collar and drags him out of the café. “Wen Jun Hui, I swear to God, if you ruin this for Mingyu—” 

“I wasn’t flirting with him—!!” 

Wonwoo stares as the smaller man literally drags Junhui down the street. Through the windows, Wonwoo could still make out Myungho’s annoyance and Junhui’s panic. They disappeared quickly beyond the window panels. 

“…they’re always like that,” Mingyu admits. He actually scratches the back of his head and shrugs. “They love each other. I think. Well, at least that’s what Hao tells me. Usually.” 

“So they’re an item?” Wonwoo asks. He almost smacks himself. Of course they are. Myungho had said it himself, and if he remembers corrected from half a semester of Chinese in college, _bao bei_ meant precious or sweetheart or some endearment. 

“Yeah, Jun-hyung is just really affectionate to everything and everyone, but yeah, those two are together,” Mingyu continues, obviously more comfortable talking about someone else. “Yeah. So—yeah, glad you came back for your phone.” 

“Same,” Wonwoo agrees. Then the silence came back. Unlike previously, it wasn’t warm and giddy. This was silence felt like a bucket of ice cold water. 

“Uh, dinner,” Mingyu stutters. “Would you like to go get dinner?”

“I—I, sure, I don’t have anything else going on tonight so, yeah, why not?” Wonwoo agrees. 

“Uh, someone’s closing up for me tonight, but uh, I’m still here until six,” Mingyu informs stiffly. “So uh, see you in—what time is it, four? See you in two hours?” 

“Yeah, uh, just text me where or something,” Wonwoo nods. He clenches his fist and the crinkling of paper reminds him that he was still holding the receipt. “Oh no, I have your number. I’ll text you where then—or did you have a place in mind?” 

“How about this Wonwoo-ssi?” Mingyu smiles. Sharply inhaling, Wonwoo’s not sure whether he liked the way his heart sped up at the man’s every smile. “You text me so I have your number and then I’ll text you where.” 

“Sounds good!” Wonwoo laughs. It sounds forced even to his own ears, but he really _really_ needed to retreat and regroup. “I’ll—I’ll text you right now.” 

A couple awkward draft messages, a trigger happy thumb and three half-written messages later, Wonwoo walks out of the café with a number and a date. After an entire day of being completely flustered, Wonwoo isn’t _too_ upset with the outcome. 

 _Six-thirty, downtown in front of the theatre? ;)_  

Wonwoo turns around and sees Mingyu’s brilliant smile through the café windows. He bites back the grin forming on his lips and types back: 

 _It’s a date_. 

And as they say, the rest is history. 

\--- 

\--

\---

History: 

“Wait, I thought there was some backstory to this,” Jeonghan frowns. They were squished in the large booth in the back of the café and managed to steal the chairs from all the surrounding tables as well. “So basically, Mingyu, you decided that Wonwoo was a hot piece of ass and you asked him out?” 

“Yep,” Minghao supports helpfully. 

“I mean, Mingyu kind of knew about Wonwoo?” Seungcheol adds hesitantly. He shoots Mingyu an apologetic look. “We kind of talked about the guy who was taking over his old room and well.” 

“Well, I thought he was an intelligent, kind _and_ hot piece of ass?” Mingyu tries to amend, giving Wonwoo the largest puppy dog eyes ever. “And so I asked you out?” 

“Wait, so you knew me before all of this?” Wonwoo asks, frowning at his boyfriend. 

“No—er, well I knew _of_ you,” Mingyu explains. His words came out quickly like he was trying to finish before Wonwoo could react. “Okay, when we first ran into each other, I didn’t know that was you. It wasn’t until later, Jihoon-hyung told me who you were and I realized I kind of knew you but not really—yeah.” 

“Too long, didn’t read,” Hansol quips. “Mingyu-hyung thought he was hot and tried to ask him out. Then added intelligent and kind to the adjective list and actually asked him out.” 

“How was that any shorter?” Seungkwan mutters, rolling his eyes. 

“They liked each other, kissed, had sex and here we are,” Minghao summarizes concisely. Seungcheol whips around to stare at the other man, looking thoroughly scandalized. “What? It’s true.” 

“And I _never_ flirted with Wonwoo!” Junhui adds happily, patting Wonwoo on the thigh. 

“Uh huh, sure,” Minghao glares. “So what’s your hand doing?” 

Junhui was quick to put both hands up in surrender, and everyone laughed. But Wonwoo didn’t miss the arm sneaking around his waist, pulling him closer. 

“He better have not flirted with you,” Mingyu mutters next to Wonwoo’s ear. 

Wonwoo merely smiles and pats Mingyu’s hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Hmmmmmm, I don't think I have the proper dynamic for Meanie tbh, 'cause I just like flustered!Wonwoo and flustered!Mingyu together LOL And I live for awkwardness? I'M SORRY WONWOO IS SO AWKWARD AND MINGYU IS EVEN MORE SO. I definitely don't do Meanie any justice LOL 
> 
> so....uh i may or may not have written this cause of my apartment LOL I’m not even joking. To get to my new apartment, I go down Coffee Road and take a left of Meany Street. It’s pronounced “Meanie Ave”. I just needed to write this. 
> 
> the first time my GPS said it, I may or may not have broke down laughing


End file.
